


Feud

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Jeremiah (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-21
Updated: 2008-11-21
Packaged: 2018-01-25 08:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1642355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      Thanks to Cyloran for the beta.<p>Written for Michelle Christian</p>
    </blockquote>





	Feud

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Cyloran for the beta.
> 
> Written for Michelle Christian

 

 

Markus looked at the two men who sat opposite him. He had tried everything he could think of to try and pacify them, but was getting nowhere. He took a deep breath. "I'm not saying you have to like each other or go back to the way things were before."

"Good," Kurdy muttered. "Because that ain't gonna be possible."

Markus sighed. "Look, All I'm saying is can you just be civil to each other in public. Can the pair of you at least try to do that?"

Kurdy glared at the other man and then pushed his chair back and nodded. He got up and headed across the room.

`That went well' Markus thought silently. "And they say diplomacy isn't dead."

"Oh it's dead Markus," Kurdy said, flinging the door open. "We just ain't buried it yet."

"Don't slam the-" Markus broke off as the door slammed shut, sending the picture next to it flying to the floor. "Door," he finished. He looked at Jeremiah. "You have nothing to add?"

Jeremiah shook his head. He pushed himself up, rubbing his hands on his leather pants. "I need to get back. Are those supplies ready?"

"Yeah, you can pick them up on the way out."

"Thanks." He turned to go.

"Jeremiah..."

He turned back and looked at Markus. "What?"

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No," came the short answer. "I have to go. Things to do, people to see, places to go, broken friendships to get over. I'll see you around." Jeremiah left the office, walking quickly down the hallways.

#-#-#

Reaching the garage area, he took his anger and frustrations out on the people there, snapping at them, before finally climbing inside the rover. A familiar face appeared at the window and tapped on the glass. Jeremiah looked at him, reluctantly winding down the window. 

"Jeremiah."

"What do you want?"

"A lift," Kurdy said sharply. "As much as it pains me to have to ask, I can't get this stuff to Ashton any other way."

"So take the other rover."

"It's being repaired. They were working on this one for you. Once again you get priority round here."

"Oh please, take your sob story some place else to someone who wants to hear it!"

"You think I want to ask you? Right now you are the last person I want to spend two hours cooped up in a rover with."

"You and me both." Jeremiah let out a loud sigh. "Fine."

Kurdy heaved his bags into the back of the rover and climbed in. He shut the door. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Jeremiah said starting the rover. 

"Fine, I won't."

"Good." He pulled out of Thunder Mountain faster than he should have done, but didn't particularly care. He just wanted out of there. He drove for five miles before he even glanced at his companion. "So, that went well."

Kurdy let out a long breath. "I dunno I can keep this up for much longer."

"We don't have much of a choice. Did you get it?"

"Yeah - it's in the back." He twisted in his seat and looked at Jeremiah. "Is this really worth it?"

"Like I said, we don't have a choice." Jeremiah looked at him. "And it's your idea."

Kurdy nodded and turned back. "Next time I suggest something like this, shoot me. How have you been?"

Jeremiah shrugged. "You know, same old. You?"

"Fine," he said.

#-#-#

Silence descended over the rover again for another hour until Jeremiah pulled up at the Ashton town boundary. "Your stop."

Kurdy nodded and got out. He went round the back and pulled out his bags. Then dumping them on the ground he went back to the driver's side. "Thanks for the lift."

"You be careful you hear? Don't go getting yourself killed."

"I'm not planning on it."

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said quietly.

Kurdy nodded slightly and watched as Jeremiah drove off.

Jeremiah watched in the mirror as Kurdy picked up his bags and headed into town then shook his head and turned his attention back to the road. 

#-#-#

Kurdy made his way down the main street to what he laughingly called home. One room, above one of the seediest bars he'd ever been in. Although no doubt Jeremiah could imagine something much worse than this. He made his way though the bar, nodding to the landlord and ignoring the calls from the `working' girls at the same time, and up the back stairs to his room.

Dumping the stuff on the bed he moved over to the window and glanced up at the sky. Another three hours until dusk he reckoned. Didn't give him long but then he'd gone over this so many times in his mind, he really didn't need that much prep time.

#-#-#

Jeremiah pulled up outside his house and just sat there for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and got out of the rover moving round to the back. "Hey Gina," he called as she came over. "This lot needs to go to the mill."

"I'll get someone right on it. Are you okay? I hear you saw Kurdy at the Mountain."

"Word sure gets round fast," he commented pulling his pack from the rover. "And yes I'm fine. Thank you for asking."

"And how's Ku-"

"He's probably fine too," Jeremiah interrupted. "I didn't ask. See that stuff gets to the mill and the stores. Make it last. Not sure when I can get more."

#-#-#

Kurdy sat by the window watching as the darkness grew. There was a full moon which illuminated the dark streets. Then he got up and made his way slowly down to the bar. He propped up his usual corner and ordered his usual poison. Which in this case was perfectly accurate, the stuff was revolting.

His gaze flitted round the room, paying the requisite amount of attention to the floor show, but also watching the punters and customers. Finally the door opened and a small man with a limp and long dank hair came in. Kurdy glanced at him, but then turned his attention back to the girl across the room. He knew who the man was and what he wanted.

The stranger moved over to the bar and sat next to Kurdy. He ordered a drink and looked over at the girl. "Nice view."

"You talking to me?" Kurdy asked.

The man looked at him. "And if I was?"

Kurdy shrugged. "You new in town?"

"Passing through. You, uh, know where I might get a room?"

"Try here or across the street." Kurdy drained his glass and set it down on the bar.

"I'll do that, thanks."

Kurdy nodded and stood up. He headed across the bar, knowing that the man he knew as Bailey would follow. He left the bar and headed up the back stairs to his room. He glanced at the man behind him and opened the door. "You'd better come in." 

"Did you get them?"

"Yeah I got them." Kurdy pointed to the bag on the bed.

"How many did you get?"

"Enough for fifteen men."

"Not enough."

Kurdy turned on him. "Then I take it and give it to someone else. There are plenty of other groups out there who would love guns and ammo for fifteen men."

"That won't be necessary," said a new voice from the doorway. "Bailey you can go. Take the bag with you."

Bailey nodded and grabbing the bag left the room.

Kurdy looked at him. "Now wait a minute. What about..."

The other man held up a hand and moved out of the shadows and into the light. "You and I have something to discuss Raven. It is Raven isn't it?" He paused and looked Kurdy up and down. "Or shall we just cut to the chase and be honest with each other. Kurdy."

Kurdy looked at him. "Okay so you know my name."

"Oh I know more than that. I know you came here from Thunder Mountain. I know you work for Markus Alexander."

"Worked," Kurdy said. "Past tense. And you have me at a disadvantage."

"Disadvantage...? Oh right, my name. Well you can call me Zach. Yes I heard about your falling out with Markus Alexander."

"Guy's nothing but a do-gooder. Sure we defeated Daniel, but didn't really achieve anything. Your group being case in point."

"So you steal a few guns from him, worm your way in... in the hopes of what?" 

"Making a difference," Kurdy said.

"Our ways are not his ways. We have, for example no qualms in killing anyone who gets in our way or betrays us." He moved over to Kurdy and pulled a knife from his pocket.

Kurdy, caught off guard, found the knife at his throat and his arms pinned behind his back. This guy was fast, he'd give him that.

"Now you wouldn't betray me would you?"

"Course not..." Kurdy gasped.

"Yet you'd betray Markus Alexander without a second thought. Maybe we test you. See if you really are loyal..."

"What do you mean?"

"If you're loyal then vanishing for a few days won't matter. If you're a mole... then someone will come looking for you. Your friend Jeremiah for example."

Kurdy laughed. "Jeremiah ain't no friend of mine. Not since he killed someone close to me." 

"We'll see. The time has come to make a move here Kurdy. No more hiding out. You found us so others will too. We are meeting with Joshua the town leader. We take over or they pay. If word leaks out then I know where it came from."

Kurdy found himself shoved to the floor, landing hard on his hands and knees.

"Remember what I said. You're either with us or against us."

As the door shut, Kurdy pushed himself upright and got to it in time to hear it locked from the outside. He banged on the door just once then turned away. No one would hear him; there was no one else up here at this time of day. He moved over to the window and watched the figures leave the building. He wondered why they had moved the schedule up. The take over wasn't meant to be for another week. "Why now?" he asked himself.

It was fully dark before the first flames lit up the sky. He hoped it was just accidental and didn't mean that the take over had failed. Either way he had to get out of here. He moved over to the door and pulled at it several times. Finally it gave. He had to get out there, help put the fire out.

"Where are you going?" 

Kurdy looked at the man standing there. "Frank..."

"Fancy seeing you Kurdy... so I ask again. Where are you going?"

"Going to go help put the fire out, where do you think?"

"Sure you're not running straight back to Markus. You were in his office this morning. Then you walk out with the guns, get a lift back with Jeremiah."

"Look... Jeremiah was going past here, there wasn't another rover..."

"I don't believe you and nor does anyone else."

Kurdy shoved Frank to one side and made a dash for the stairs. 

"You are going nowhere!" came Frank's voice.

Kurdy heard the swish of the club, the slight breeze on his back of his head before the impact. There was an instant stunning pain, falling and nothing.

#-#-#

Jeremiah sat in the front room of his house in Milhaven, the cup in his hand. It was quiet here without Kurdy. In all honesty he'd got used to the big guy being there. He looked over the room at the empty chair on the other side of the fire place. He could almost see him sat there, laughing at him for being morose. Fact was since Libby died, he'd become more dependant on the guy than he wanted to admit.

Since they'd defeated Daniel and the immediate danger was past, they'd been able to base themselves both at the same place. As he had a house and Kurdy didn't, it just made sense for Kurdy to move in here. He sighed heavily and wondered if Markus had fallen for the fight they'd put on the past few weeks. Knowing Markus however, they probably hadn't fooled him at all.

Jeremiah pinched the bridge of his nose and then ran a hand over his head. It was coming up to Christmas. For years they'd all ignored it, Santa wasn't coming, he'd died with the rest of the adult population, but this year with the war over, he and some of the town's council in association with Markus had decided to bring it back.

He had picked out a tree, was planning to surprise Kurdy with it, but now that didn't look like it was going to happen with Kurdy living in Ashton. If only things were different, he thought silently. "This had better be worth it," he muttered. He'd lost too many friends already, really didn't want to lose another one.

He looked up jerked out of his thoughts as someone shouted his name. "Door's open!" he called not wanting to leave his nice warm spot by the fire.

The door flung open letting in a howling wind and a burst of snow. "Jeremiah, you've got to come." Markus' face looked white and pinched. Something told him it wasn't just the cold.

He looked up. "What's up?"

"There's been a fire in Ashton." 

Jeremiah looked at him. The last time he'd seen Markus looking like that was after Libby died. He got to his feet, his stomach plummeting and his heart twisting within him. "Kurdy?" he managed.

"We don't know. I'm on my way over there now, thought you might want to come." He paused. "You can also fill me in on what's going on at the same time."

Jeremiah grabbed his coat. "Nothing's going on."

Markus looked at him. "Don't give me that. I'm not falling for this `feud' the two of you have going."

There was a long sigh. "Fine, later. It was his idea anyway." He moved swiftly from the house, shutting the door behind him. "So who's driving?"

"Erin. And you can tell me on the way." He raised an eyebrow. "And yes that is non negotiable."

Jeremiah rolled his eyes but nodded slightly following Markus down to the rover.

#-#-#

They'd barely reached the edge of town when Markus looked at Jeremiah. "Talk," he ordered.

"We'd heard rumours that there were a group of insurgents up in the mountains. Operating out of Ashton. Nothing concrete, that's why we hadn't said anything to you. Kurdy wanted to go investigate but our ties to you were too strong for anyone to believe it. So we concocted this whole feud story to give him a reason to leave and set up home in Ashton."

"Nothing concrete hasn't stopped you in the past."

"This was different. Anyway, we invented the feud, gave him reason to leave Milhaven, break from the Mountain."

"Different how? Are you telling me there is someone on the inside?"

"Kurdy had seen Frank talking to the insurgents a couple weeks before he moved over there."

Markus took a sharp breath. "Frank? He's on the council. That Frank?"

Jeremiah nodded slowly. "Yeah, that Frank."

"I see." 

"So we figured if we could fool you too then we hoped that everyone would be convinced. Anyway he found a room in Ashton and things seemed to be going okay. Until now. I knew something was wrong earlier, should never have let him go alone."

"Oh?" 

"Just a feeling." Jeremiah looked down at his hands. 

"I'm sure he got out," Erin spoke for the first time since leaving Milhaven.

"He better had. Or I will track them down and kill them myself."

#-#-#

A smoky haze hung over the centre of Ashton as the rover drove through it. Jeremiah wrinkled his nose at the smell.

Markus wound down the window. "Where can we find Joshua?" he asked.

"He's over at the church hall. It's being used as a temporary mortuary." The man pointed further down the road.

They drove slowly passed the remains of the bar and houses either side of it. The smell was overpowering here. "Pull over," Jeremiah said. "I want to start here."

Markus looked at him. "Wouldn't you rather check..."

"Go see if I can identify my best friend?" he asked cutting Markus off. "No... Let me out here." As the rover stopped he jumped out. "I'll meet you at the church in a bit."

Jeremiah stood there as the rover drove off, the same sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he'd had when Michael and Libby had died. "Where are you Kurdy?"

He started moving slowly through the still smouldering timbers, ignoring people who told him to keep out, that the building was unsafe. That didn't matter. He kept moving onwards, calling out Kurdy's name over and over.

#-#-#

For a moment, Kurdy thought he was still dreaming. He'd been having this weird dream about Jeremiah and him having this massive fight. Over what he didn't remember, but the fight had got worse and worse and they'd ended up hitting each other, not just yelling. The yelling had stopped but now it had started up again.

He tried moving only pain erupted through his head causing him to cry out. There was also something heavy lying on top of him.

"KURDY!" the voice came again. 

Definitely Jeremiah's he thought. "Here," he managed.

Urgency came into his friend's voice. "Where?"

Kurdy struggled to move, crying out in pain as he did. "Here."

Jeremiah looked round to the left where the cry came from. There was a huge section of collapsed wall there. He moved over to it and using his bare hands started to shift bricks and burnt timbers. "Kurdy? You under here?"

"Yeah," came the reply.

Jeremiah started working faster, heedless of his own safety. "Don't go anywhere," he called.

"No chance of that... how did you find me?"

"Markus got word of the fire and came and got me. He's here somewhere with Erin." There was a long silence. So long that Jeremiah paused. "Kurdy... you still there?"

"Yeah..." The voice was full of pain. "S... so Markus knows?"

"Some, not all. Apparently our feud didn't fool him. Guess he knows us too well."

"For what it's worth... it didn't work... here either." 

Jeremiah paused. Kurdy's voice was fainter now. "You stay with me you hear." There was no answer. He threw more bricks to one side, hearing the support beams start to crack above him but ignoring them. "Kurdy!" He pulled aside a beam uncovering the still form of his friend. Reaching down he put a hand on Kurdy's neck and was relieved to find a pulse. 

"Still here," he muttered.

"Good." The beams creaked again.

"Get out of here Jeremiah, that's gonna fall."

"I'll have you out in a minute," he said. "We'll go together."

There was a huge crack above him and glancing up he saw one of the beams falling as if in slow motion. He threw himself down over the prone form of his friend. There was a sharp crack, dull pain and then darkness.

#-#-#

Jeremiah opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "Where am I?" he asked.

"Home," Kurdy replied. He sat in the chair beside the bed, a bandage round his head and his left arm in a sling.

Jeremiah turned his head. "Home?"

Kurdy looked at him. "Markus brought us back here. You slept the past three days."

Pushing himself up the bed Jeremiah looked at him shocked. "How long?"

"Don't feel too bad, I slept a couple days myself."

"Okay... why are we here and not at the Mountain?"

"Your fault."

"My fault?"

Kurdy nodded slightly. "Apparently you muttered home at Markus several times as they pulled you out of that building. Even went so far as to tell him to tap his heels and say there's no place like home."

Jeremiah shrugged. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live. Thank you for coming, finding me."

"Didn't get you out."

"Jeremiah, you saved me when that beam fell."

"It's what friends are for." He paused. "Wait... if I slept three days then that must mean today's Christmas Eve."

Kurdy nodded. "Yup. So you didn't miss it after all."

"What about the tree?"

"Markus helped me put it up this morning. It's not decorated or anything. Figured we'd do that when you woke."

Jeremiah nodded. "Maybe later."

#-#-#

Later that afternoon, Jeremiah sat on the floor by the tree handing pinecones and decorations up to Kurdy who hung them one handed onto the tree. "Doesn't look like the one I remember from when I was a kid," he said.

Kurdy looked at him. "Lot's changed since then. Lost almost everything."

Jeremiah rummaged though the box, looking for something. "Yeah but we gained too."

"Like what?"

"Well I doubt I'd have met you."

Kurdy paused. "True."

Jeremiah picked up his mug and held it up. "To friendship and Christmas."

Kurdy chinked his mug against it. "And saving my life."

"It's what friends do."

Kurdy looked at him. "And they also explain to Markus why they hid things from him."

"Oh no... your idea. You explain."

"I don't think so."

Jeremiah looked at him. "Oh yes."

"Nope."

Jeremiah paused. "How about we tell him together?"

"Deal."

"Merry Christmas Kurdy."

"Merry Christmas Jeremiah." 

 


End file.
